Finding the passion

Born in the most populous city in China and then
moving to central North Carolina at age four, Shaofu
Zhang came to UNCW with a strong interest in film studies.
At the very start of his freshman year in 2002, Zhang's desire to
become successful was acknowledged by faculty and students alike.
It was his continued ambition that led him to one of his biggest
accomplishments-a Student Academy Award.

The Student Academy Awards is a national student film
competition put on by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, the same organization that awards the Oscars. It honors
outstanding student filmmakers from across the country and
internationally with awards in five categories: alternative,
animation, documentary, foreign and narrative. Zhang is the first
UNCW graduate to receive the prestigious honor.

UNCW associate professor Eric Patterson heard the outstanding
news during a conference at Sony Pictures Imageworks where Zhang
works as an animator. Zhang and his two colleagues, Lisa Allen and
Bernardo Warman, received a gold medal in the 38th
Student Academy Award in the animation category for the short film
Dragonboy.

The making of Dragonboy, a short collaborative
thesis, was a long process that often consisted of 16 hour
workdays, seven days a week, for the three students. It took nine
months to write and re-write the script, develop the storyboard and
create the visual component of the film-one and a half years from
start to finish.

"The last couple of months of Dragonboy I couldn't tell reality
from sleep" Zhang said. "We realized from the very beginning that
if we want to do this we needed to aim high."

"It was a rough time but I'm very grateful to my teammates,"
said Zhang. "We all pulled together and kept going until the bitter
end."

During his time at UNCW Zhang was heavily involved with the
Flicker Film Society becoming the publisher of the organization's
magazine and perfecting his skills with graphic design and visual
effects. The society also gave him hands-on experience directing
and producing different productions.

"Zhang seemed ahead of his time as far as skills and ambitions.
He knew where he was going and he had a plan to achieve his
dreams," said Terry Linehan, who taught him Introduction to
Screenwriting.

After graduating in 2006 with a degree in film production and a
minor in journalism, Zhang worked at Screen Gems Studio in
Wilmington for a year before deciding he wanted to continue his
education in film.

"I grew an interest in visual effects which started as a hobby
where I learned the aspects of the crazy special effects that go
into films," he said.

If he wanted to learn more Zhang realized it was time to move
forward in his life, so he set out to San Francisco, to pursue his
interest in animation and character effects. He received his
Masters Fine Arts degree in 3D animation at the Academy of Art
University which is where he began the production on
Dragonboy.

Today, Zhang is working on an animated feature film at
Imageworks, creating the physical and acting performance of a
character in the film.

Shaofu said the film studies program at UNCW laid the foundation
that he constantly uses during his job today. Everything from
cinematography to pacing and rhythm and all the things in between
were invaluable to him in graduate school at the Academy of Art
University and now at Imageworks. The opportunity to direct his own
films at UNCW, supported his drive and confidence to create
Dragonboy.

"I will say though, that like anything else in life, what you
put into it is what you get out of the program," Zhang said. "A lot
of what it comes down is simply love of what you do and having that
passion to push through the hard times."

He remembered doing 16- to 18-hour shooting days for short film
productions and then turning around and spending all night in the
editing room at UNCW because it was just so much fun making
movies.

His advice for students: "Find the passion that will keep you
going and never let it go."

Click to watch Dragonboy

"Dragonboy is a film about a school play -
the story of a princess, a dragon and a knight that plays like a
classic fairy tale with a modern, ironic twist. The boy playing the
dragon is actually in love with the girl playing the princess. The
knight, who in the classic version would come to the princess'
rescue, is actually a bully. These detours from the formulaic make
Dragonboy an intriguing metastory, because the drama
is played out within the play itself. In the end, the bully is
vanquished and love is found, all in just over four minutes of
precisely choreographed and meticulously animated
action."